1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally to hinge assemblies and, more particularly, to a hinge assembly typically used for an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic device such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, or a personal digital assistant, generally has a main body and a display cover pivotally connected to the main body via a hinge assembly.
A typical hinge assembly includes a fixing member and a rotating member. The fixing member includes a fixing portion, and a sleeve formed on a side of the fixing portion. The rotating member includes a mounting portion, and a rotary shaft extending from the mounting portion. A latching protrusion is formed on an inner surface of the sleeve. A latching groove is defined in an outer surface of the rotary shaft. The rotary shaft is inserted into the sleeve, so that the rotating member can be rotated relative to the fixing member. When the rotating member is rotated to a predetermined position, the latching protrusion of the sleeve is engaged in the latching groove of the rotary shaft, thereby retaining the rotating member in the predetermined position. Moreover, the rotating member may be retained in any other desired position via a frictional force generated between the sleeve and the rotary shaft.
However, when the rotating member is rotated to another desired position, the latching protrusion slides out of the latching groove, and abuts against an outer surface of the rotary shaft, so that a portion of the sleeve adjoining the latching protrusion will become warped and no longer tightly contact the rotary shaft. As a result, the rotating member may not be retained stably in the desired position.
What is needed, therefore, is a new hinge assembly that overcomes the above mentioned disadvantages.